Now that summer is fast becoming past and the rush of the new school year has taken over, how easy it is to forget that the outside world awaits. Before packing memories of outdoor fun as you would another school lunch, plan a trip to the Audubon Center in Greenwich where it is now peak hawk-watching season. “Every fall, hawks, eagles, falcons and other raptors migrate from the north and funnel through this area in concentrated numbers,” says center manager, Marilyn Smith. To highlight the natural wonder, Audubon Greenwich is planning a HawkWatch Weekend Festival replete with falconry demonstrations, face painting, live music, nature walks, apple cidering and family activities on the weekend of September 13-14. “Depending on the weather, you could see thousands of migrating birds of 17 different species, including bald eagles and peregrine falcons, in just one day,” gushes Smith. This year, the annual hawk watch festival is scheduled to coincide with the grand opening celebration of the new, three-story, 17,000-square-foot Kimberlin Nature Education Center. Created from the footprint of an existing lodge, the new nature center houses permanent and traveling exhibits, a nature store, lecture auditorium and art gallery, weather station, computers for citizen science logs, observation room, and the Hilfiger children’s learning center as well as classrooms and administrative offices. The children’s learning center boasts an indoor working beehive, a collection of discovery boxes (hands-on, theme-based science kits), child-friendly microscopes and slides, a tree that plays recordings of different animals, a puppet theatre, and an interactive model watershed, complete with moveable dams where kids can create mist, rain, droughts and thunderstorms. “It’s playing with a purpose,” says Smith. Another feature unique to the Kimberlin Nature Center is the Systems of Nature exhibit, a room-sized, multi-sensory sculpture showing the interrelationships between climate, geology, topography, soil, hydrology, vegetation and animal life. Each system is represented by sculptural spheres containing dioramas or models. Climate is depicted by a tree showing the different seasons as you move around it. Predator/prey relationships are suggested by a coyote skull beside a mouse skeleton. There is a “rock star”, a sphere with spokes holding different rock specimens. A talking earthworm explains how it makes soil. Computer-generated scents, like the odor of fresh earth after a rainstorm, waft through the air. Light fades up and back guiding the visitor’s focus. “The Systems of Nature exhibit was designed so not everything is immediately apparent,” explains Smith. “It’s great for both kids and adults. Every person’s experience will be different.” The new nature center was built as both a destination and a gateway to further explore the 686-acre sanctuary. “The building connects right up to the trails,” says Smith. There are 15 miles of trails through woods and meadows, past a lake, frog pond and streams. Smith summarizes the philosophy that pervades the site: “Our goal is to get people out on the trails to enjoy nature and to provide them with the knowledge and supplies they need to do that here, at home and away.” On the way back to the car, stop at the observation deck where you’ll find a chair, field guide and binoculars so you can watch the activity around the bird feeders, plants and water fountain, all designed for maximum wildlife attraction. “You are welcome to sit for hours; it’s great on a snowy day,” says Smith with a smile, reminding us that even in the upcoming winter, nature awaits us. The Audubon Center in Greenwich is open seven days a week from 9am-5pm. The HawkWatch Weekend Festival will run September 13-14 from 10am-4pm. General admission is $3 for adult non-members; $1.50 for children, seniors and members. Audubon Greenwich is located at 613 Riversville Road. For general information, call (203) 869-5272 or visit http://greenwich.center.audubon.org. For information about birthday nature programs, contact Winifred Werre at ext. 227 or wwerre@audobon.org.
